This invention relates generally to a vise construction and more particularly to an improved vise construction and a method of forming the movable head portion and chill bar of a vise as a single unit.
Bench vises for shop or home are well-known in the art for holding various kinds of workpieces in a fixed position to be operated on for a multitude of reasons. Such bench vises generally include a stationary body portion which is securely fastened to a support surface, such as a bench or stand or the like, and a movable body positioned adjacent the fixed body to provide a clamping force. The movable body includes a chill bar formed therewith and extending into a guide passage of the fixed body to provide for linear movment toward and away from the fixed body during operation. Gripping jaws, such as flat narrow surfaces and/or toothed arcuate portions, for holding pipe or the like, are then readily utilized to hold the workpiece securely in position for filing or hammering or the like. Jaw portions of the fixed and movable body components of the vise may include tempered or annealed jaw faces which are fastened to the jaw portions and used to hold either soft or hard materials.
High quality industrial, shop and home use vises generally are of cast iron construction, at least with respect to the stationary and movable components thereof. Such cast iron vises are generally expensive, and as a result have been relatively limited in small shop or home use. One feature of their construction which has increased the cost is the large sand castings required to form the movable head and chill bar assembly. Heretofore, a steel slide bar, commonly referred to as a chill bar or chill, was cut from bar stock of relatively hard steel material. One end of the bar stock is notched, or a hole formed therethrough, to provide a locking recess for the cast material. The chill bar is then placed in a sand mold, at the bottom half thereof, such that the notched end will protrude into the lower end portion of the movable body when molten cast metal is poured into the mold. Upon cooling of the molten cast metal, the chill bar and movable body become a unitary member having high tensile strength as required of large and strong vises. However, because of the need of placing the chill bar in the sand mold to have the end thereof formed in the casting, the cost of forming such vise head portion is relatively high for several reasons. One reason of primary importance is that only a very limited number of movable vise heads can be formed in a single sand mold because of the large amount of space wasted by placing the chill bar within the mold. In many instances, only one vise body and chill bar assembly can be formed in a mold and at best, with the smaller sized units, a pair of movable bodies and chill bars can be formed. The cost of the vise construction is further increased by the fact that a large amount of sand is used to form the mold.